CN113442429A

CN113442429A - Molding material connecting device and molding device

Info

Publication number: CN113442429A
Application number: CN202010928484.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 山田太一; 铃木渡
Original assignee: Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp
Current assignee: Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp
Priority date: 2020-03-25
Filing date: 2020-09-07
Publication date: 2021-09-28
Also published as: JP7484296B2; US11318638B2; US20210299913A1; JP2021154541A

Abstract

Provided are a molding material connecting device and a molding device. The molding material connecting device comprises: a cutting unit configured to cut at least a part of a plurality of continuous fiber bundles into a molding material, the molding material being formed by impregnating the plurality of continuous fiber bundles with a resin material, the molding material being supplied in a supply direction in which the continuous fiber bundles extend; and a joining section that joins the resin materials by heating the molding material on the downstream side in the feeding direction and the molding material on the upstream side in the feeding direction with respect to a cut portion cut by the cutting section, or joins the resin materials by heating a tip end portion of a preceding molding material and a tip end portion of a succeeding molding material.

Description

Molding material connecting device and molding device

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a molding material connecting device and a molding device.

Background

Conventionally, there has been known a three-dimensional shaped object production apparatus that suppresses a reduction in rigidity of a three-dimensional member by suppressing meandering of fibers (see, for example, japanese patent application laid-open No. 2019-081292).

Disclosure of Invention

The purpose of the present disclosure is to obtain a molding material connecting device and a molding device that can connect and supply molding materials.

According to the 1 st aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a molding material connecting device, wherein the molding material connecting device has: a cutting unit configured to cut at least a part of a plurality of continuous fiber bundles with respect to a molding material, the molding material being formed by impregnating a resin material into the plurality of continuous fiber bundles, the molding material being supplied in a supply direction in which the continuous fiber bundles extend; and a joining section that joins the resin materials by heating the molding material on the downstream side in the feeding direction and the molding material on the upstream side in the feeding direction with respect to a cut portion cut by the cutting section, or joins the resin materials by heating a tip end portion of a preceding molding material and a tip end portion of a succeeding molding material.

According to the 2 nd aspect of the present disclosure, the resin material joining apparatus further includes a replenishing portion that replenishes a resin material for joining the resin material between the molding material on the downstream side in the feeding direction from the cut portion and the molding material on the upstream side in the feeding direction, or replenishes a resin material for joining the resin material between a tip end portion of the preceding molding material and a tip end portion of the succeeding molding material.

According to the 3 rd aspect of the present disclosure, the cutting section cuts all of the plurality of continuous fiber bundles.

According to the 4 th aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a molding machine having: a 1 st supply unit configured to supply a molding material, which is formed by impregnating a resin material into a plurality of continuous fiber bundles, in a supply direction in which the continuous fiber bundles extend; a 2 nd supply unit which is disposed downstream of the 1 st supply unit in the supply direction and supplies the molding material; a heating unit configured to heat the molding material supplied from the 2 nd supply unit and supply the molding material to the mounting table; a pressurizing unit that pressurizes the molding material supplied to the mounting table; and the molding material connecting device is arranged between the 1 st supply part and the 2 nd supply part, or is arranged at the upstream side of the 1 st supply part in the supply direction.

According to the 5 th aspect of the present disclosure, the molding machine includes a control unit that controls the supply stop of the 1 st supply unit and the 2 nd supply unit and the cutting operation of the cutting unit so that the molding material can be cut at a timing calculated from molding data for molding the object.

According to the 6 th aspect of the present disclosure, the heating portion is configured to: the control unit stops the supply of the 1 st supply unit and the 2 nd supply unit at a timing when the cutting portion of the modeling material is supplied to the mounting table, and relatively separates the heating portion from the mounting table so that the modeling material is cut off from the cutting portion.

According to the 7 th aspect of the present disclosure, the control unit stops the supply of the 2 nd supply unit at a timing when the leading end portion of the preceding molding material reaches the cutting unit, and controls the supply of the 1 st supply unit so that the leading end portion of the succeeding molding material reaches the cutting unit.

(Effect)

According to the above-described aspect 1, the molding material can be supplied in a connected manner.

According to the above-described aspect 2, the resin materials of the molding materials can be easily joined as compared with the case where joining is performed only with the resin material of the molding material.

According to the above-mentioned aspect 3, it is possible to cope with a case where the straight portion is to be shaped immediately after the twisted portion.

According to the 4 th aspect, the molding material supplied by the connection can be used for molding.

According to the above-described aspect 5, the modeling materials can be joined with high accuracy, as compared with a case where the cutting operation of the cutting unit is performed without stopping the supply of the 1 st supply unit and the 2 nd supply unit.

According to the above-described means 6, compared to a case where the heating portion is relatively separated from the mounting table regardless of the timing at which the cut portion of the molding material is supplied to the mounting table, it is possible to suppress or prevent the generation of an unnecessary portion in the molding material.

According to the 7 th aspect, the molding material after replacement can be smoothly replenished.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing a molding machine of the present embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing a molding unit of the molding machine of the present embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the molding material connecting device of the present embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the molding material when the molding material connecting device of the present embodiment is used for connection.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a shaped object shaped by the shaping apparatus of the present embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing a molding material used in the molding material connecting device and the molding device of the present embodiment.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that an arrow H shown in fig. 1 and 2 indicates an upper side (upper side in the vertical direction) of the molding machine 10, and an arrow W indicates a width direction (horizontal direction) of the molding machine 10. Note that, a direction perpendicular to the arrow H and the arrow W is a depth direction (horizontal direction) of the molding machine 10.

The Modeling apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is a three-dimensional Modeling apparatus (3D printer) of a Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) system, and is an apparatus that computes a plurality of layers of layer data (Modeling data) from three-dimensional information of three-dimensional CAD or the like, and models a modeled object 80 shown in fig. 5 by superimposing the layers according to the layer data.

As shown in fig. 6, a molding material (hot filament) 90 used in the molding machine 10 of the present embodiment is configured by impregnating a resin material 94 such as a polyamide synthetic resin into gaps between continuous fibers of a continuous fiber bundle (hereinafter simply referred to as a "fiber bundle") 92 in which a plurality of continuous fibers are bundled without being twisted.

As an example of the continuous fiber, a carbon fiber T300 made by Toray corporation having a diameter of 0.005mm can be used. The molding material 90 is formed by bundling 1000 or more (3000, for example) continuous fibers. In fig. 6, the number of continuous fibers is shown to be small. In addition, the cross section of the molding material 90 (fiber bundle 92) of the present embodiment is formed in a circular shape with a diameter of 0.4mm, for example.

The direction in which the fiber bundle 92 extends is the feeding direction of the molding material 90. Therefore, hereinafter, the upstream side in the feeding direction of the molding material 90 may be simply referred to as "upstream side" and the downstream side in the feeding direction may be simply referred to as "downstream side".

As shown in fig. 1, the molding machine 10 has a molding chamber 20 and a storage chamber 70. As shown in fig. 2, the molding machine 10 includes a molding table 14 as an example of a mounting table, a molding unit 12 disposed above the molding table 14, a moving unit 18 for moving the molding unit 12, and a control unit 16 for controlling the respective members, in a molding chamber 20.

< shaping Chamber >

[ modelling table ]

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the molding table 14 is disposed on the lower side in the molding machine 10 (molding chamber 20). The modeling table 14 has a modeling surface 14A that faces upward and is a horizontal surface.

[ Mobile unit ]

As shown in fig. 2, the moving means 18 is disposed on the upper side in the molding machine 10 (molding chamber 20), and is configured by combining conventional mechanisms. The moving unit 18 moves the modeling unit 12 in the width direction, the depth direction, and the vertical direction, and further rotates the modeling unit 12 with the vertical direction as the axial direction.

[ modelling unit ]

The modeling unit 12 is disposed between the modeling table 14 and the moving unit 18 in the vertical direction. The modeling unit 12 includes: a pulley 22 around which a molding material 90 is wound; a feeding roller 24 as an example of the 1 st feeding section, which feeds the modeling material 90; and a cutting unit 28 for cutting at least a part of the modeling material 90.

Further, the modeling unit 12 includes: a joining section 30 that heats the molding material 90 on the downstream side and the molding material 90 on the upstream side of the cut portion cut by the cutting section 28 to join the resin materials 94, or heats the tip end portion of the preceding molding material 90F and the tip end portion of the succeeding molding material 90S to join the resin materials 94 as shown in fig. 4; and a feeding roller 26, which is an example of the 2 nd feeding unit, disposed downstream of the joining unit 30 (feeding roller 24), and configured to feed the molding material 90.

In addition, the cutting portion 28 and the joining portion 30 constitute a molding material connecting device 50. The cutting section 28 and the joining section 30 are disposed between the

delivery rollers

24 and 26 in the feeding direction of the modeling material 90.

Further, the modeling unit 12 includes: a 1 st heating section 34 as an example of the heating section, which supports and heats the modeling material 90 supplied from the delivery roll 26, and supplies the modeling material 90 to the modeling surface 14A of the modeling table 14; and a pressurizing unit 40 for pressurizing the molding material 90 supplied to the molding surface 14A of the molding table 14.

Further, the modeling unit 12 includes: a 2 nd heating unit 52 that heats the modeling material 90 from a position away from the modeling material 90; a 3 rd heating unit 56 that heats the pressurizing unit 40 from a position away from the pressurizing unit 40; and a unit support portion 60 that supports the entire modeling unit 12.

The molding unit 12 (molding material connecting device 50) further includes a replenishing portion 33 that replenishes a new resin material (the same resin material as the resin material 94) for joining the resin material 94 between the molding material 90 on the downstream side and the molding material 90 on the upstream side of the cut portion cut by the cutting portion 28, or replenishes a new resin material (the same resin material as the resin material 94) for joining the resin material 94 between the tip end portion of the preceding molding material 90F and the tip end portion of the succeeding molding material 90S. The supplement portion 33 is not essential, and the supplement portion 33 may not be provided.

(Belt pulley)

As shown in fig. 2, the pulley 22 is disposed in one side portion (the right side portion in the drawing) in the width direction of the molding machine 10 in the molding unit 12, and the rotation axis direction of the pulley 22 is the depth direction.

The pulley 22 has: a cylindrical pulley body 22A; a shaft portion 22B that constitutes a rotation shaft of the pulley body 22A; and a support bracket 22C that supports the shaft portion 22B. The pair of support brackets 22C is provided, and the pair of support brackets 22C is disposed across the pulley body 22A in the depth direction.

Specifically, the support bracket 22C extends in the vertical direction, and the shaft portion 22B is supported at the lower end portion of the support bracket 22C. In this configuration, 4 molding materials 90 are wound around the pulley 22 in a row in the depth direction.

(delivery roll)

As shown in fig. 2, the feed roller 24 is disposed downstream of the pulley 22. The feed roller 24 includes: the drive roller 24A; a driven roller 24B; and a support bracket 24C that supports the drive roller 24A and the driven roller 24B.

The direction of the rotation axis of the drive roller 24A and the direction of the rotation axis of the driven roller 24B are the depth direction. The drive roller 24A and the driven roller 24B vertically sandwich 4 molding materials 90 supplied via the pulley 22 so that the downstream side of the supplied molding materials 90 is positioned downward with respect to the upstream side.

The pair of support brackets 24C is provided, and the pair of support brackets 24C is disposed across the driving roller 24A and the driven roller 24B in the depth direction. Specifically, the support bracket 24C extends in the vertical direction, and supports the drive roller 24A and the driven roller 24B at the lower end portions thereof.

The delivery roller 26 is disposed downstream of the delivery roller 24 (joint 30). The feed roller 26 includes: the drive roller 26A; a driven roller 26B; and a support bracket 26C that supports the drive roller 26A and the driven roller 26B.

The direction of the rotation axis of the drive roller 26A and the direction of the rotation axis of the driven roller 26B are set as the depth direction. The drive roller 26A and the driven roller 26B vertically sandwich 4 molding materials 90 fed from the feed roller 24 so that the downstream side of the fed molding materials 90 is positioned lower than the upstream side.

The pair of support brackets 26C is provided, and the pair of support brackets 26C is disposed across the driving roller 26A and the driven roller 26B in the depth direction. Specifically, the support bracket 26C extends in the vertical direction, and supports the drive roller 26A and the driven roller 26B at the lower end portions thereof.

In this configuration, the delivery roller 24 feeds 4 molding materials 90 toward the molding surface 14A by being rotated by the driving roller 24A to which a driving force is transmitted from a motor, not shown. Then, the driving roller 26A, to which a driving force is transmitted from a motor not shown, is rotated at the same rotation speed as the driving roller 24A, whereby the delivery roller 26 feeds 4 molding materials 90 toward the molding surface 14A.

In this way, the 4 molding materials 90 supplied via the pulley 22 are supplied to the molding surface 14A of the molding table 14 by the feed-out

rollers

24 and 26 so that the downstream side is positioned lower than the upstream side. In the present embodiment, the

delivery rollers

24 and 26 are rotated so that the modeling material 90 is supplied at a speed of 30mm/sec or more and 100mm/sec or less, for example.

(cutting part)

The cutting section 28 has 4 cutting blades 28A, and the 4 cutting blades 28A cut 4 molding materials 90 individually. The "cut at least partially" in the present embodiment includes both the case of cutting the fiber bundle 92 while leaving a part (the number of pieces that are easily cut when the modeling material 90 is pulled) of the fiber bundle 92 and the case of cutting the entire fiber bundle 92.

(Joint part)

As shown in fig. 3, the joining portion 30 has a pair of clamping members 32 in a rectangular flat plate shape whose longitudinal direction is the feeding direction. A concave portion 32A having a substantially semicircular arc-shaped cross section for sandwiching and pressurizing the molding material 90 is formed in the center portion of the inner surfaces of the pair of opposed sandwiching members 32 so as to extend in the longitudinal direction.

The pair of gripping members 32 are configured to be movable in a direction of approaching (contacting) each other and a direction of separating from each other by a known mechanism (not shown). Hereinafter, a state in which the pair of gripping members 32 have their inner surfaces close to (in contact with) each other is referred to as a "closed state", and a state in which the inner surfaces are away from each other is referred to as an "open state".

Further, when the pair of clamp members 32 is in the closed state, the inner diameter of the hole portion having a circular cross section formed by the recessed portion 32A is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the modeling material 90. Thereby, the molding material 90 is sandwiched and pressurized by the pair of clamp members 32.

A plate-like heater (not shown) is embedded in each of the pair of holding members 32 (the heaters are embedded in each of the pair of holding members 32). For example, the heater heats the molding material 90, which is sandwiched and pressurized by the pair of sandwiching members 32, to 250 ℃ to 300 ℃.

Thereby, the resin material 94 of the molding material 90 is melted, and the molding material 90 on the downstream side of the cut portion cut by the cutting section 28 is connected to the molding material 90 on the upstream side, or as shown in fig. 4, the distal end surface 90E of the distal end portion of the preceding molding material 90F is connected to the distal end surface 90T of the distal end portion of the following molding material 90S.

Further, the temperature of the heated molding material 90 is lowered by closing the pair of clamp members 32, but a cooling unit (not shown) for cooling the molding material 90 may be provided downstream of the joining unit 30 and upstream of the delivery roller 26 in order to promote joining of the resin material 94 in the molding material 90.

(1 st heating part)

The 1 st heating section 34 is disposed downstream of the delivery roller 26. The 1 st heating section 34 has: a pipe member 35 through which the modeling material 90 passes; a body portion 36 that is supported so as to surround the pipe member 35; a plate-like heater (not shown); and a support bracket 38.

The pipe members 35 are made of a metal material, and have 4 pipes, for example. The 4 tube members 35 are arranged in the depth direction. Further, the pipe member 35 extends in the feeding direction of the modeling material 90 obliquely such that the downstream end of the pipe member 35 is positioned below the upstream end of the pipe member 35 when viewed from the depth direction.

The main body 36 is a rectangular parallelepiped made of a metal material, and is formed in a rectangular shape extending in the feeding direction of the modeling material 90 when viewed from the depth direction. Further, a part of the pipe member 35 is surrounded by the body portion 36. Further, an opening (not shown) is formed in the body portion 36 at a portion on the downstream side in the feeding direction of the modeling material 90 so that the 4-tube member 35 is exposed upward.

The heater is disposed inside the main body portion 36. Specifically, the heater is disposed in a portion upstream of the main body portion 36 in the feeding direction of the modeling material 90, and heats the main body portion 36 and the pipe member 35 to 200 ℃ to 250 ℃.

The pair of support brackets 38 is provided, and the pair of support brackets 38 is disposed across the body portion 36 in the depth direction. Specifically, the support bracket 38 extends in the vertical direction in a bent state, and supports the main body portion 36 at the lower end portion thereof.

In this configuration, the 1 st heating unit 34 heats 4 molding materials 90 by a heater to soften the resin constituting the molding materials 90. Then, the softened 4 modeling materials 90 are supplied to the modeling surface 14A of the modeling table 14 through the 4 pipe members 35 provided in the 1 st heating unit 34.

In this way, the molding materials 90 pass through the pipe members 35 and are positioned at the supply position to the molding surface 14A (the molding table 14). That is, the 1 st heating unit 34 also functions as a positioning member for determining the supply position of the molding material 90. In the present embodiment, the pitch (center-to-center distance) between adjacent molding materials 90 is set to 1mm, for example, at the portion where the molding materials 90 are discharged from the pipe member 35.

(pressurization part)

The pressurizing unit 40 is disposed downstream of the 1 st heating unit 34. The pressurizing unit 40 includes: a roller portion 42; and a support portion 48 that supports the roller portion 42. The roller portion 42 is arranged such that: the 4 molding materials 90 discharged from the 1 st heating unit 34 are sandwiched between the molding surface 14A of the molding table 14 and the axial direction as the depth direction.

The roller portion 42 includes a shaft portion 46 extending in the depth direction and a main body portion 44 having a circular cross section. The length of the body portion 44 in the depth direction is longer than the length from the pipe member 35 disposed on the frontmost side to the pipe member 35 disposed on the innermost side in the depth direction.

Further, the support portion 48 includes: a pair of support plates 48A disposed across the roller section 42 in the depth direction; a body portion 48B coupled to upper ends of the pair of support plates 48A; and a biasing member (not shown) for biasing the roller unit 42 toward the modeling table 14.

The pair of support plates 48A extend in the vertical direction with the plate thickness direction as the depth direction. The shaft 46 of the roller 42 is attached to the lower end of the support plate 48A. The lower end of the body 48B is attached to the upper end of the support plate 48A via an urging member. One support bracket 38 provided in the 1 st heating unit 34 is attached to one support plate 48A, and the other support bracket 38 provided in the 1 st heating unit 34 is attached to the other support plate 48A.

The body 48B extends in the vertical direction, and the upper end of the support plate 48A is attached to the lower end of the body 48B via an urging member. In this configuration, the pressing section 40 presses the modeling material 90 toward the modeling surface 14A of the modeling table 14 with a predetermined load by the biasing force of the biasing member. In the present embodiment, the pressurizing part 40 is formed at 20N/cm, for example²Above 50N/cm²The following pressure pressurizes the molding material 90 toward the molding surface 14A.

(2 nd heating part)

The 2 nd heating unit 52 is disposed above the 1 st heating unit 34. The 2 nd heating unit 52 includes: a housing 52A; an infrared lamp (not shown) disposed inside the housing 52A; and a support bracket 54.

The case 52A is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape opened toward the 1 st heating unit 34 side. That is, the opening of the housing 52A faces the 1 st heating section 34 and the roller section 42. In other words, the infrared lamp is disposed so as to irradiate infrared rays from the opening of the housing 52A toward the 1 st heating section 34 and the roller section 42.

The support bracket 54 is formed in a substantially L shape when viewed from the depth direction. One portion of support bracket 54 is attached to the upper end of case 52A, and the other portion of support bracket 54 is attached to the side surface of main body portion 48B of support portion 48.

In this configuration, the 2 nd heating part 52 heats the portion of the modeling material 90 that passes through the tube member 35 from the opening of the body part 36 in the 1 st heating part 34 by the infrared lamp. Further, the 2 nd heating section 52 heats the portion of the modeling material 90 discharged from the 1 st heating section 34 and reaching the nip portion N between the roller section 42 and the modeling surface 14A by an infrared lamp. In this way, the 2 nd heating unit 52 functions as a heating means for heating the portion of the molding material 90 which is discharged from the 1 st heating unit 34 and reaches the nip portion N.

(3 rd heating part)

The 3 rd heating unit 56 is disposed on the opposite side of the 1 st heating unit 34 across the pressing unit 40 in the width direction of the molding machine 10. The 3 rd heating part 56 has: a housing 56A; a warm air heater (not shown) disposed inside the casing 56A; and a support bracket 58.

The case 56A is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape open toward the roller portion 42 side of the pressurization portion 40. That is, the opening of the case 56A faces the roller portion 42 of the pressurization portion 40. In other words, the warm air heater is arranged to blow out warm air from the opening of the casing 56A toward the roller portion 42 of the pressurization portion 40.

Further, the support bracket 58 has: a main body portion 58A having a substantially L-shape when viewed from the depth direction; and a case support portion 58B to which the case 56A is attached. The case support portion 58B extends substantially vertically, and the case 56A is attached to the lower end portion of the case support portion 58B. Further, the upper end portion of the case support portion 58B is attached to one side portion of the body portion 58A, and the other side portion of the body portion 58A is attached to the side surface of the body portion 48B of the support portion 48.

In this configuration, the 3 rd heating unit 56 heats the roller unit 42 of the pressurizing unit 40 with a warm air heater. That is, the roller section 42 is heated from one side in the width direction of the molding machine 10 by the 2 nd heating section 52, and is heated from the other side in the width direction of the molding machine 10 by the 3 rd heating section 56. In this way, the 3 rd heating unit 56 functions as a heating means for heating the roller unit 42 of the pressing unit 40.

(Unit support part)

The unit support portion 60 includes: a main body 62 disposed below the moving unit 18 and to which components are attached; and an intermediate portion 64, the lower end portion of the intermediate portion 64 being attached to the main body portion 62, and the upper end portion being attached to the moving unit 18.

The main body 62 is formed in a plate shape with the plate thickness direction being the vertical direction. The upper end of the main body portion 48B of the pressurization portion 40, the upper end of the support bracket 24C of the delivery roller 24, the upper end of the support bracket 26C of the delivery roller 26, and the upper end of the support bracket 22C of the pulley 22 are attached to the lower surface 62A of the main body portion 62.

In this configuration, the unit support portion 60 (the modeling unit 12) is moved in the width direction, the depth direction, and the vertical direction by the moving unit 18 controlled by the control portion 16. Thus, the 1 st heating unit 34 is configured to be relatively close to or far from the molding surface 14A (molding table 14), and the molding material 90 supplied from the pipe member 35 of the 1 st heating unit 34 can be supplied to a corresponding portion of the desired nip portion N.

[ control section ]

The control unit 16 controls the moving unit 18, the

delivery rollers

24 and 26, the heater of the 1 st heating unit 34, the infrared lamp of the 2 nd heating unit 52, the warm air heater of the 3 rd heating unit 56, the cutting unit 28, the joining unit 30, and the like, using layer data (modeling data) based on the three-dimensional data of the modeled object 80 that is input.

In particular, the control unit 16 controls the stop of the supply of the

delivery rollers

24 and 26 and the cutting operation of the cutting unit 28 so that the molding material 90 can be cut at a timing calculated based on the layer data (molding data) of the three-dimensional data for molding the molded object 80.

Further, the control unit 16 performs the following control: the feeding of the feeding roller 24 and the feeding roller 26 is stopped at the timing when the cut portion of the modeling material 90 cut by the cutting section 28 is fed to the modeling surface 14A, and the 1 st heating section 34 is relatively separated from the modeling surface 14A (modeling table 14) so that the modeling material 90 is cut from the cut portion.

The control unit 16 stops the supply of the delivery roller 26 when the leading end portion (the distal end surface 90E) of the preceding molding material 90F reaches the cutting unit 28, and controls the supply of the delivery roller 24 so that the leading end portion (the distal end surface 90T) of the following molding material 90S reaches the cutting unit 28.

< storage Chamber >

As shown in fig. 1, a reel 72 is rotatably provided at an upper portion of the storage chamber 70, and a modeling material 90 is wound around the reel 72. That is, 4 reels 72 are arranged in the depth direction, and the modeling material 90 fed from each reel 72 is supplied to the feed roller 24 via the pulley 66 provided in the modeling chamber 20 and the pulley 22.

Further, a replacement reel 74 is provided at a lower portion of the storage compartment 70, and the modeling material 90 is wound around the reel 74. The number of replacement spools 74 is not particularly limited, but a plurality of replacement spools are arranged in the depth direction as in the case of the spools 72. The modeling material 90 fed out from the reel 72 is the preceding modeling material 90F, and the modeling material 90 fed out from the reel 74 is the subsequent modeling material 90S.

< shaped article >

As shown in fig. 5, the shaped object 80 according to the present embodiment is formed by connecting a large diameter portion 82 and a small diameter portion 84 having a bottomed cylindrical shape with different outer diameters and inner diameters by a flat plate-shaped connecting portion 86, for example. The shaped object 80 had a mass of 2.59kg and a width in the longitudinal direction of 0.68 m. Therefore, when 4 molding materials 90 are arranged in parallel and molded at the same time, each of the molding materials 90 used for producing the molded object 80 is 2.59kg/4 — 647.5 g.

Here, the amount of winding (winding length) of the modeling material 90 wound on 1 reel 72 is 1590m, and the mass thereof is 500 g. Therefore, when manufacturing a shaped object 80 requiring 647.5g of the shaping material 90, at least 1 reel 72 needs to be replaced (replenished) with a replacement reel 74.

The following description will explain the operation of the molding material connecting device 50 and the molding machine 10 configured as described above.

As described above, in the case of manufacturing the shaped object 80, only 4 reels 72 are insufficient, and another reel 74 is necessary. Here, the molding machine 10 of the present embodiment is provided with the joint portion 30 as the molding material connecting device 50. Thus, the molding material 90 is continuously supplied.

Specifically, the

delivery rollers

24 and 26 are stopped at a position where the tip end portion (the tip end surface 90E) of the modeling material 90 supplied from the reel 72, among the 4 reels 72, at which the modeling material 90 ends first, reaches the cutting unit 28. Then, the reel 72 which is empty first is removed, the reel 74 for replacement is attached, the modeling material 90 on the reel 74 is wound around the pulley 22, and the delivery roller 24 is driven until the tip end portion (tip end surface 90T) reaches the position of the cutting portion 28.

Thus, the tip end surface 90T (see fig. 4) of the tip end portion of the subsequent molding material 90S fed from the reel 74 abuts on the tip end surface 90E of the tip end portion of the preceding molding material 90F, and the

molding materials

90F and 90S in the abutting state are disposed at the joining portion 30. In addition, with regard to such a configuration, control is performed by the control section 16.

That is, the control unit 16 stops the supply of the feeding

rollers

24 and 26 at the timing when the leading end portion (the distal end surface 90E) of the leading modeling material 90F reaches the cutting unit 28. Then, the supply of the delivery roller 24 is controlled so that the leading end portion (leading end surface 90T) of the molding material 90S to be formed later reaches the cutting section 28. In this state, the feed roller 24 and the feed roller 26 rotate in synchronization by a predetermined amount, and thereby the tip end surface 90E of the leading modeling material 90F and the tip end surface 90T of the following modeling material 90S are arranged between the pair of clamp members 32 in the open state in a state of being abutted against each other.

Then, the pair of clamp members 32 is brought into a closed state to pressurize the tip end portion of the molding material 90F and the tip end portion of the molding material 90S, and heated to, for example, 270 ℃. Thereby, the resin material 94 in the tip end portion of the molding material 90F and the resin material 94 in the tip end portion of the molding material 90S are melted and joined to each other. In addition, the resin material 94 is joined at this time instead of the fiber bundle 92. That is, the fiber bundle 92 is not joined.

However, since the resin materials 94 are joined to each other, when the modeling material 90 is supplied from the

delivery rollers

24 and 26 with the pair of clamp members 32 in the open state, even if the modeling material 90S joined to the modeling material 90F is pulled by the delivery rollers 26, the joining surfaces of the modeling material 90F and the modeling material 90S are not separated. Accordingly, the molding is continued by the molding material 90S supplied in connection.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the molding machine 10 smoothly supplies the succeeding molding material 90S after the replacement to the preceding molding material 90F. Therefore, the reduction of the layer forming efficiency during the molding can be suppressed, and the occurrence of defective portions such as parting lines can be suppressed. It is preferable that the control unit 16 controls the supply portion so that the supply portion reaches a portion of the shaped object 80 that does not affect the strength.

Further, the following molding material 90S is supplied in a state of being joined to the preceding molding material 90F. Therefore, compared to the configuration in which the subsequent molding material 90S is supplied in a state not joined to the preceding molding material 90F, even if the subsequent molding material 90S is softened at the outlet of the tube member 35, a problem that the molding material 90S is clogged at the outlet of the tube member 35 does not occur.

Further, the resin material may be replenished from the replenishing portion 33 when the distal end surface 90E of the molding material 90F and the distal end surface 90T of the molding material 90S are joined. Thereby, the resin material 94 in the distal end surface 90E of the molding material 90F can be easily joined to the resin material 94 in the distal end surface 90T of the molding material 90S, as compared with the case where joining is performed only with the resin material 94 of the molding material 90.

In the molding machine 10, the feed roller 26 may be configured to rotate in the axial direction of the molding material 90. That is, a shaped object obtained by supplying the shaping material 90 to the shaping surface 14A in a twisted state and bending the shaping surface may be shaped. In this case, the modeling material 90 may be supplied to the modeling surface 14A from the middle without being twisted and modeled.

In this case, the present embodiment can be applied. That is, in the modeling material 90, the boundary portion between the twisted portion in the twisted state and the straight portion in the untwisted normal state is cut by the cutting portion 28. The cutting in this case means cutting the entire fiber bundle 92. When the cutting is performed by the cutting unit 28, the rotation of the

feed rollers

24 and 26 is stopped.

Then, the feed roller 24 and the feed roller 26 are rotated in synchronization, and the cut portion cut by the cutting portion 28 is disposed at the joining portion 30. That is, the cut portions are sandwiched (pressed) and heated by the pair of clamping members 32 to be joined (in this case, the resin material may be replenished from the replenishing portion 33). Thus, the modeling material 90 in a twisted state (to be a twisted portion) is located on the downstream side of the cut portion, and the normal modeling material 90 in a non-twisted state (to be a straight portion) is located on the upstream side of the cut portion.

As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to cope with a case where the shaping of the straight portion is intended immediately after the twisted portion (the twisted portion and the straight portion can be connected and supplied). The stop of the supply of the

feed rollers

24 and 26 and the cutting operation of the cutting unit 28 are controlled by the control unit 16. Therefore, the modeling material 90 can be joined with high accuracy, as compared to the case where the cutting operation of the cutting section 28 is performed without stopping the supply of the feed-out

rollers

24 and 26.

In the molding machine 10, when the N +1 th layer is molded after the nth layer (N is a natural number), the molding material 90 may be cut at the end of the nth layer. Therefore, in the conventional molding machine (not shown), a cutting unit (not shown) for coping with the cutting is provided downstream of the 1 st heating unit 34.

However, in this case, since there is a limit to the position where the cut portion is provided, a portion where the modeling material 90 remains in an excessive state is formed at the end of the nth layer. In addition, in the case where the molding material 90 is not cut at the end of the N-th layer, it is necessary to prepare the molding material 90 formed in a length corresponding to the N-th layer.

According to the present embodiment, such a problem can be solved. First, the control unit 16 detects the terminal end of the nth layer from the layer data (modeling data) based on the three-dimensional data of the modeled object 80. Then, the control section 16 calculates a necessary amount (length) of the molding material 90 remaining until the terminal end portion of the nth layer based on the detection result, and cuts the molding material 90 by the cutting section 28 by a length corresponding thereto.

In this case, all of the fiber bundle 92 may be cut, or only a part of the fiber bundle 92 may be cut so that only a few fibers remain. However, the number of fibers remaining uncut is such that the fibers are easily cut by the movement of the 1 st heating section 34 away from the shaping surface 14A.

Next, the cut molding material 90 (the molding material 90 on the downstream side of the cut portion and the molding material 90 on the upstream side) is fed to the joining portion 30, and the resin material 94 is melted and joined by applying pressure and heat as described above (in this case, the resin material may be replenished from the replenishing portion 33). After joining, heating and pressing are stopped, and the molding material 90 is supplied to the molding surface 14A by the

delivery rollers

24, 26, and the nth layer is molded.

Then, the molding of the nth layer is completed at the cut portion of the molding material 90. Therefore, when the driving of the conveying

rollers

24, 26 is stopped at this timing and the 1 st heating section 34 is moved away from the molding surface 14A (molding table 14), the molding material 90 is joined only by the resin material 94 (or only by the resin material 94 and several fibers), and thus can be easily cut (cut) from the cut portion only by drawing.

In this way, the modeling material 90 is cut and supplied in advance (supplied in a state where only the resin material 94 is joined) so as to be an amount for modeling only the nth layer, and therefore, when the modeling material 90 is cut (cut) at the end of modeling of the nth layer, the problem that the modeling material 90 remains in an excess state is improved.

In other words, compared to the case where the control section 16 relatively separates the 1 st heating section 34 from the modeling table 14 regardless of the timing of supplying the cut portion of the modeling material 90 to the modeling surface 14A of the modeling table 14, the generation of the unnecessary portion in the modeling material 90 can be suppressed or prevented.

Further, the modeling material 90 can be easily cut (disconnected) from the disconnected portion only by separating the 1 st heating section 34 from the modeling surface 14A of the modeling table 14, and therefore, there is no need to provide a disconnecting section for disconnecting the modeling material 90 on the downstream side of the 1 st heating section 34. Therefore, the occurrence of a defective shape of the cut surface can be suppressed or prevented even when the cutting is performed by the cutting section.

Although the molding material connecting apparatus 50 and the molding machine 10 according to the present embodiment have been described above with reference to the drawings, the molding material connecting apparatus 50 and the molding machine 10 according to the present embodiment are not limited to those shown in the drawings, and design changes can be appropriately made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the cutting unit 28 may cut the middle of the modeling material 90 fed from 1 reel 72 out of the 4 reels 72, replace the 1 reel 72 with the replacement reel 74, feed the modeling material 90 from the reel 74, and join the modeling material 90S fed from the reel 74 with the preceding modeling material 90F fed from the reel 72.

This makes it possible to cope with a case where a molding material 90 having a different number of fiber bundles 92 (for example, 5000 instead of 3000) is to be molded from the middle, or a case where a material of the molding material 90 is to be replaced (for example, a molding material that is replaced with a fiber bundle other than carbon fibers or a molding material that is not a resin material of polyamide synthetic resin).

As shown by the phantom lines in fig. 1, the joint portion 30 (including the cut portion 28 and the supplement portion 33) may be provided on the downstream side of the pulley 66 and on the upstream side of the pulley 22. That is, the joining portion 30 (including the cutting portion 28 and the replenishing portion 33) may be provided upstream of the delivery roller 24.

Claims

1. A modeling material connecting apparatus, comprising:

a cutting unit configured to cut at least a part of a plurality of continuous fiber bundles into a molding material, the molding material being formed by impregnating the plurality of continuous fiber bundles with a resin material, the molding material being supplied in a supply direction in which the continuous fiber bundles extend; and

and a joining section that joins the resin materials by heating the molding material on the downstream side in the feeding direction and the molding material on the upstream side in the feeding direction with respect to a cut portion cut by the cutting section, or joins the resin materials by heating a tip end portion of a preceding molding material and a tip end portion of a succeeding molding material.

2. The modeling material connection apparatus of claim 1,

the molding material connecting device includes a replenishing portion that replenishes a resin material for joining the resin material between the molding material on the downstream side in the feeding direction from the cut portion and the molding material on the upstream side in the feeding direction, or replenishes a resin material for joining the resin material between a tip end portion of the preceding molding material and a tip end portion of the succeeding molding material.

3. The modeling material connecting apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

the cutting unit cuts all of the plurality of continuous fiber bundles.

4. A molding machine, comprising:

a 1 st supply unit configured to supply a molding material, which is formed by impregnating a resin material into a plurality of continuous fiber bundles, in a supply direction in which the continuous fiber bundles extend;

a 2 nd supply unit which is disposed downstream of the 1 st supply unit in the supply direction and supplies the molding material;

a heating unit that heats the molding material supplied from the 2 nd supply unit and supplies the molding material to the mounting table;

a pressurizing unit that pressurizes the molding material supplied to the mounting table; and

the molding material connecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is disposed between the 1 st supply part and the 2 nd supply part, or is disposed upstream in the supply direction from the 1 st supply part.

5. The molding machine according to claim 4,

the molding machine includes a control unit that controls the supply stop of the 1 st supply unit and the 2 nd supply unit and the cutting operation of the cutting unit so that the molding material can be cut at a timing calculated from molding data for molding the object.

6. The molding machine according to claim 5,

the heating unit is configured to: relatively approaching to or departing from the placing table according to the control of the control part,

the control unit stops the supply of the 1 st supply unit and the 2 nd supply unit at a timing when the cut portion of the modeling material is supplied to the mounting table, and relatively separates the heating unit from the mounting table so that the modeling material is cut from the cut portion.

7. The molding machine according to claim 5 or 6,

the control unit stops the supply of the 2 nd supply unit when the leading end portion of the preceding molding material reaches the cutting unit, and controls the supply of the 1 st supply unit so that the leading end portion of the succeeding molding material reaches the cutting unit.